


The Best Thing

by MagicalStranger13



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M, Human AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 03:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6407278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicalStranger13/pseuds/MagicalStranger13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt for Spunky_Ferret_Reader with Ne-Yo's song: 'Never Knew I Needed'!</p><p>A fluffly, Butterfly Bog oneshot based on a true story between me and my boyfriend over five years ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Spunky_Ferret_Reader](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky_Ferret_Reader/gifts).



> First half of my double fanfic-iversary post! 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy it! Especially you, Spunky_Ferret_Reader! Some details have been changed, but this roughly how things went down...

“Uh-oh.”

Marianne paused and pressed a hand to her lower belly, feeling the tell-tale pressure that was going to bring this pleasant evening to an early end.  She and her boyfriend, Bog, had gone to a potluck dinner on the west side of campus.  Neither one knew nor cared what the event was for, but when you’re a college student, you don’t turn down free food. 

“What’s wrong?”  Bog asked, setting his plate down and peering at her in concern.

Even as she winced in discomfort, Marianne felt her cheeks bloom red.  She and Bog had only been dating for four weeks, and he’d never had a girlfriend before.  Granted, he _had_ been raised by his widowed mother since he was eleven, and since this was the 21 st century, full of Kotex commercials, and human biology classes starting in middle school, she doubted he was going to look at her like she was some freak from another planet.  Still, how _was_ he going to react?  Like some dopey dad from a TV sitcom? 

She shuddered, but she had no choice.  It was already hurting too much to lie.

“We um……we need to go.”

Clearly worried now, Bog stepped closer and slipped a hesitant arm around her lower back. 

“Do ye feel sick?”

“No.”  She shook her head to avoid groaning.  “No, I……I’m… _cramping_.”

“Cramping?”

“It’s…my time of the month.” 

Biting the bullet, she looked up right into his thin, scarred face.  He was tilting his head in that cute way whenever he was confused, but in almost two seconds, his eyes lit with realization. 

“Oh!  O-Okay, ah...come on, let’s get outta here.”

To her amazement, he quickly dumped their food in the trash and led her out of the classroom, down the hall to the parking lot without another word.  

* * *

Because Marianne’s apartment was twenty-five minutes away, while Bog lived within three miles of the university, they decided she’d stay the night and go home tomorrow when she was feeling better.  In the car ride, no one spoke, but Bog held her hand firmly between the seats and drove as fast as he could down the dark road. 

It was so painful, Marianne squirmed in her seat the whole way.  This was beyond humiliating!  She was always so careful.  She must’ve just been so happily caught up in her new relationship, she hadn’t thought about the calendar. 

When they made it to Bog’s apartment, after Marianne rushed to the bathroom to use the one emergency tampon she kept in her purse, she went into the bedroom to lay down.  Bog followed her with a glass of water and two white, oblong tablets.

“All I have is Tylenol.”  He said, kneeling beside the bed.  “Is that alright?”

“Yes, thank you.” 

She took the water and pain killers, and burrowed back into the blankets with a whine, pressing the extra pillow to her stomach.    

Bog winced at the sound, and wrung his hands. 

“What else can I do?”

“The medicine works faster if you eat something.”

“Oh, okay!”  He jumped up and headed for the kitchen, but stopped halfway out the door.  “Shit!”

“What?”

“I haven’t gone to the grocery store this week, yet.  Um, how about I just run out and grab us some dinner?  Is McDonald’s okay?”

“That’s fine.”  She croaked.  “I want a number two with a coke, please.”

“Gotcha.”  He nodded, fishing out his keys and leaning over to kiss her forehead.  “I’ll be right back!” 

She didn’t hear him leave.  Instead, to control her pain, she focused her thoughts in a more pleasant direction. 

A lot had changed in the last year and a half.  She’d met Bog during tech week for a musical at the campus theater; he was one of the backstage hands.  Funnily enough, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen him.  Their college was a small one, and she had sat behind him in a government class her first semester.  Thanks to the professor’s insistence on roll call, she’d learned his name was Bogart King.

Right away, something about him intrigued her.  He was tall and had a lean, but very powerful build.  Though he always wore dark colored, long-sleeved shirts, she could occasionally, see hints of tattoos on his arms.  His skin was pale and decorated with old scars, particularly on his face, which was gaunt, but pleasing with its sharp cheekbones, hooked nose and stubbly chin.  Ink black hair was kept swept back from his head, the perfect contrast to his eyes.

It was those eyes that had captured her from the start.  They were a glittering pair of sapphire blue that made her heart jump in her throat the second they’d met hers as he stalked into the classroom that day.    

She wasn’t looking for a relationship, not even a harmless crush.  In fact, she remembered being pissed about how affected she was.  She’d dumped her cheating asshole of a high school boyfriend the day of graduation and college was supposed to be a fresh romance-crap-free start.  Yet, she couldn’t get him out of her _head_! 

Pathetic as it was, she was actually too nervous to speak to him or even move to sit beside him.  She’d only ever dated Roland, so her experience with cute boys was woefully limited.  Despite her best efforts to ignore him, eventually, she gave into her curiosity and looked him up on Facebook. 

He was two years older than her, and was from a small, southern town in the same state, but his birthplace was listed as Scotland until 2000.  She recognized a few of his friends; she even had a couple of classes with them in the Arts program.  She asked them about him casually, just to make sure she wasn’t slowly getting the hots for a drug addict, or womanizer…or gay man. 

Thankfully, none of his friends had anything bad to say about him.  He was a straight, single, nice, respectable guy who was pretty quiet and introverted.  He didn’t socialize much, but he _was_ part of a campus martial arts group and, according to their mutual friend also in the club, he was the ‘sweetest thing, just notoriously shy’.

Well, at the time, that made two of them, for she kept her flustered mouth shut for that whole semester, convinced that it was probably for the best.  At least, until it was dress rehearsal time the following April, and there he was, painting a backdrop in a pair of sinfully tight black jeans.  By then, she'd gotten used to the college scene and had come out of her shell thanks to theater, but she wasn’t sure what would be the best way to approach him.  She wanted to make an _unforgettable_ impression.

Well, after two awkward encounters involving a fast backstage costume change with a flesh-toned bra and pair of panties, she had the perfect icebreaker.  She walked right up to him in the hall just before the third rehearsal, and stuck out her hand for him to shake.

“Hi.”  She’d smirked at his bewildered expression.  “You’ve seen me in my underwear twice now, so I think you should know my first name.  I’m Marianne.”

He’d accepted her hand and introduced himself as ‘Bog’.  The rest was history. 

They became fast friends over the next six months: going to movies, grabbing lunch, doing homework together, walking to and from class.  She learned he was an Arts & Technology major wanting to start his own animation studio based off his goblin, elf, and fairy character design sketches.  He fully supported her decision to one day become a theater professor after grad school.  He even taught her some taijutsu techniques to go along with her fencing and kickboxing skills.  She’d never met anyone outside her own family that she could be so honest and comfortable with.  Before she knew it, she found herself hopelessly in love with that grumpy, dorky, tree-man.  She even confided in her sister, Dawn, that even if he never returned her feelings, she would be happy just having him in her life as a best friend. 

Then one night, he’d confessed, in his adorably clumsy way, that he wanted to date her and she could’ve done a backflip over the moon. 

The memories made her smile and she snuggled into his sheets, inhaling his mouthwatering cinnamon and pine scent.

 _For the way you changed my plans_  
_For being the perfect distraction_  
_For the way you took the idea that I have_  
_Of everything that I wanted to have_  
_And made me see there was something missing, oh yeah_

* * *

“Hey.”

Marianne blinked and stretched at the deep voice and gentle hand on her shoulder.  She must’ve dozed off. 

“How’re ye feelin’, Tough Girl?”

“A little better.”

“I brought the food,” he said, placing her cup and bag on the nightstand, “but they forgot to throw in ketchup.  I’ll go get some from the kitchen.  And maybe pick out a movie?”

“Sounds good.”  She smirked, sitting up to take her bag.  “How about a comedy?  Got any Abbot and Costello?”

“Are ye kiddin’?  Only the _best_!”

Giggling as he ducked out of the room again, she pulled out her first burger, unwrapped it, automatically lifted the top bun to take off the pickles-

-and _froze_.

 _For the ending of my first begin_  
_(Ooh, yeah yeah, ooh, yeah yeah)_  
_And for the rare and unexpected friend_  
_(Ooh, yeah yeah, ooh, yeah yeah)_  
_For the way you're something that I'd never choose_  
_But at the same time, something I don't wanna lose_  
_And never wanna be without ever again_

Marianne felt irrational tears spring into her eyes as she stared at the pickle-less burger.  There was no circular impression in the cheese, so they hadn’t been removed beforehand.  They’d never been placed.  Even she always forgot to ask them to hold the pickles.  She’d just gotten so used to taking them out later.  Still, they’d only eaten at McDonald’s once or twice since they met, and he remembered she didn’t like pickles on her burger.    

He remembered!

 _You're the best thing I never knew I needed_  
_So when you were here I had no idea_  
_You the best thing I never knew I needed_  
_So now it's so clear, I need you here always_  
  
“Marianne?”  Bog called, running into the room like his ass was on fire.

Great, her tear up had turned into a hormonal sob fest loud enough for him to hear from the kitchen. 

“Marianne, what’s the matter?”  He dropped the DVD and ketchup bottle he’d brought and his hands hovered around her, unsure of what to do.  “Are ye hurtin’ again?  Do ye need more Tylenol?”

She whimpered and shook her head as the tears streamed down her cheeks.   

“Then what _is_ it, baby?  Tell me!”

 _My accidental happily_  
_(Ever after)_  
_The way you smile and how you comfort me_  
_(With your laughter)_  
_I must admit you were not a part of my book_  
_But now if you open it up and take a look_  
_You're the beginning and the end of every chapter_

“No…pickles!”

Judging by the look he gave her, _that_ was the last thing he’d expected her to say. 

“Huh?”

“There’s n-n-no… _pickles_!”

“Erm…yeah, I……ye hate pickles…I th-thought.  Did ye… _want_ pickles this time?”

“No!”

“Wha-?  I……I dorn’t understand.  What did I do wrong?”

Marianne threw her head back and wailed like Lucy Ricardo.

“NOOOOOOTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!”

Bog flinched back at her outburst, completely lost and more than a little scared.

“You’re just…the b-best…boyfriend…in the whole w-w-woooooooooorld!”

“What?”

“You…re-…re-…remembered!”  She cried, wiping at her wet eyes.  “You _remembered_!  You remembered that I d-don’t like pickles!”

“Um……well…”

 _You're the best thing I never knew I needed_  
_So when you were here I had no idea_  
_(When you were here)_  
_You the best thing I never knew I needed_  
_(That I needed)_  
_So now it's so clear, I need you here always_  
_(Now it's so clear)_

 “…of course I did, Marianne.  Why wouldn’t I remember that?”

She sniffled and met his gaze.

“I also picked up some tampons cuz I didn’t know if he had enough in yer purse.”

He pointed to the CVS shopping bag she hadn’t noticed before on the floor.  She could see the corner of a blue box sticking out. 

Tampax Pearl.

Her favorite brand.

Bog yelped as she threw her arms around his neck, weeping like a bathtub all over again.  She couldn’t believe it!  Most boyfriend's would've had a _meltdown_ , but he’d gone out and bought tampons for her like it was no big deal!  First girlfriend ever, and he’d dealt with her period like a man married for twenty years, with three teenage daughters; like it was just **no. big. _deal_**!  He didn’t make her feel weird, or embarrassed, or disgusting, like fucking-Roland did in the ninth grade.  Bog had done the decent, normal, _human_ thing and just taken _care_ of her!     

“You’re s-so…wo-wonderful!”  She bawled, burying her face into his shirt.  “Why are y-you…dating m-m- _me_?”

“Uh…because I really-really- _really_ want to?”

His large, hesitant hands returned her hug and eased her back down onto the bed.

“So…yer  _not_ upset?”

“Mm-mm.”

“And yer not mad at me?”

“Nope.”

“Yer just cryin’ cuz yer…happy and-?”

“Stupidly hormonal.”

“Glad we cleared that up.”

 _Who knew that I could be_  
_(Who knew that I could be)_  
_So unexpectedly_  
_(So unexpectedly)_  
_Undeniably happier_  
_Sitting with you right here, right here next to me_  
_Oh, you're the best_

After they’d finished their meals and movie, Marianne’s cramps flared up a bit and she writhed on the bed, moaning and clenching her fists. 

“What can I do to help?”  Bog asked, combing his fingers through her hair in comfort.

“Lay next to me.”  She instructed.  “Don’t let me curl up into a ball.  It’s instinctual, but it just makes it hurt more.  Put your leg over mine to make sure I lie flat.”

“Okay.”

Bog shimmied down onto the mattress and curled up against Marianne’s side, crossing his left leg over both of hers, and cradling her in his arms. 

“How’s this?”

“Perfect.”  
  
_You're the best thing I never knew I needed_  
_(Said I needed)_  
_So when you were here I had no idea_  
_(When you were here)_  
_(Said I had no idea)_  
_You're the best thing I never knew I needed_  
_(That I needed)_  
_So now it's so clear I need you here always_  
_(Now it's so clear)_  
_(So clear, so clear, I need you always)_

As much as she wanted to, she didn’t tell him she loved him that night, but she didn’t need to.  There’d be plenty of time.  She’d make sure of it.  For now, she was beyond content to fall asleep in his strong arms and dream of flying through a warm, lush forest under the moon with a lanky, Scottish, blue-eyed goblin man by her side.     
  
_Now it's so clear, I need you here always_

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I cried over the fact that he remembered no pickles. Shut up!
> 
> Lol, please leave a comment or kudos!!!  
> <3


End file.
